Saturday, June 30, 1945. Mopping up.

"These five 96th Div. Texans are considered "aces" by their buddies in Co. I, 383rd Inf. Regt., an ace being anyone who has killed five or more Japs. From bottom to top: S/Sgt. Vernon Z. Wilkins, 101 Chicago St., Delhart; Pfc. Albert Welfel, El Campo; Pfc. Richard S. Groce, 318 Lafitte St., San Antonio; PFC Roy D Clepper, Florey; and Pfc. Russell Linnard, of Pharr, Texas. 30 June, 1945. Company I, 383rd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division."  I wonder what their lives were like after the war.

Today in World War II History—June 30, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 30, 1945: In the Philippines, Luzon is declared secure. Organized Japanese resistance ends on Mindanao in the Philippines.

Sarah Sundin's blog.

Indeed, some Japanese troops would hold out on the Philippines on an individual basis for decades. 

" Jap tankette knocked out in battle for Shuri. Tank is about 10 ft. by four and about five feet in height, and carries two men. Relative size is shown by Lt. M. A. Miller of 94 Parkway Rd., Bronxville, New York. 30 June, 1945. Photographer: Henderson, 3240th Signal Photo Det."  Tankettes were a British concept from between the wars, but had fallen out of favor almost everywhere before World War Two.  Japan, which existed in military isolation, kept them.

American forces on Okinawa completed a week of mop-up operations in which 8,975 Japanese were reported killed and 2,902 captured, showing how intense operations remained.

While not apparent to anyone yet, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps had effectively concluded the main part of their ground fighting in the war.  Ground combat, however, carried on for the British and Dominion armies, and the Chinese Army.

Former U.S. Army Air Force base Liuzhou, China, was recaptured by the Chinese.  They also took Chungchin on the Indochinese border.

The French the 5e REI, a Foreign Legion regiment which had been stationed in Indochina, was deactivated, having been decimated in their retreat into China.

Truman appointed James F. Byrnes to be Secretary of State.

Last edition:

Friday, June 29, 1945. Downfall.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Harry S. Truman, Japan, Operation Coronet, Operation Downfall, Operation Olympic

Thursday, May 10, 1923. The bizarre actions of Maurice Conradi.

Soviet delegate to the Conference of Lausanne was shot dead by former Russian White officer and émigré Maurice Conradi in the Cecil Hotel.  Two other members of the Soviet mission were wounded when they attempted to resist.  Conradi then handed his gun to a waiter and asked him to call the police, which they did.

Conradi.

Conradi was born to Swiss parents in 1896.  They were living in St. Petersburg at the time, where they ran a candy factory.  Most of Conradi's family were killed during the Russian Revolution, with several being executed by the Bolsheviks.  During this period he married his wife,  Vladislava Lvovna Svartsevich, and he immigrated to Switzerland following the defeat of Wrangel's army.

Conradi and his confederate Arkady Polunin were tried that following November and defended themselves on moral grounds, introducing evidence of Communist horrors. The prosecution fell into this, oddly enough, and introduced evidence of the happiness of Soviet citizens, something that would have had to have involved an element of delusion.  The jury found that all the elements of murder were present, but failed to convict him 5 to 4 anyhow, leading to a rupture in diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union.

In 1925 the Conradi's moved to Paris. They divorced in 1929.  Conradi then joined the French Foreign Legion, returning to Switzerland and remarrying in 1942.  He died in 1947.  Polunin went to Paris as well and died under mysterious circumstances in 1933.

Of the Soviet survivors, one, was executed in Stalin's purges in 1938.  The other was killed in 1942 while serving in the Red Army.

About as much as can be said of this entire episode is that it was downright bizarre.

French Legion in St. Louis, Missouri., Sept. 26, 1918

Thursday, November 5, 1914. Bears.

The United Kingdom and France declared war on the Ottoman Empire.  The UK, further, established  the Sultanate of Egypt in place of the khedivate formerly under the Ottoman Empire, making formal what had been sort of an informality about a titular Ottoman territory.  And, in addition, the UK annexed Cyprus.

Take that, Ottoman Empire.

A court martial against British Admiral Ernest Troubridge commenced.  His command had pursued but failed to capture the German battleships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau before they reached Turkey.

Italian volunteers formed the Garibaldi Legion to support France in the Great War.

The Fraternal Order of the Bears was organizing a lodge in Casper.

Last edition:

Wednesday, November 4, 1914. Booze on the ballot.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Battle of Tanga, Battle of the Bees, Prohibition, World War One